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There is no doubt that AI is changing the way the world works, and for many people, it is having a direct impact on their livelihoods.

What would you do if a company that you had been producing digital content for suddenly stopped giving you work because they moved to AI?

That is what happened to the guy in this story, but after a while, they started offering him work again because the AI content didn’t convert well. Unfortunately, they are offering him far less per job than they used to pay.

This is an unfortunate reality in today’s job market. Read through the full story below and see what you think he should do.

Brands replaced me with ai, engagement tanked AND now they are back in my DMs offering 40% less than what they paid me before. THE AUDACITYY

So, I am just supposed to be okay with this??

It is always disappointing to lose out on work that you rely on.

For two years I made content for this brand, UGC kinda videos of me talking about products. I worked with 8 brands regularly, which I got through an agency. I was getting good money and thought it was stable.

In March the briefs stopped, I checked my email every day waiting and assumed I’d done something wrong and spent some time too going over old messages trying to figure out what.

This would be very upsetting; that’s for sure.

Found out through another creator four months later that they had switched to AI generating voices and fake testimonials. Like could they have not informed me? I just stopped existing to them and had to figure out why on my own about this.

I cried about it if I am being honest because it felt like a personal rejection even though it wasn’t personal.

Now they are backing away from the AI solution.

Then this month my phone started buzzing again and it was the same agency with the same brands and it was like we never stopped talking.

They gave me new briefs attached and at the bottom of each one a rate. Every single rate was lower than what they paid me before they left, and when I asked the point of contact about why they did not contact me for months, she acknowledged the AI experiment and why it ended.

AI isn’t quite at the level that it needs to be.

Basically the engagement had collapsed, CTRs tanked because consumers could feel something was off, and now they are back to giving contracts to “REAL” UGC influencers (yes she said REAL 😭😭).

So, theres a reason companies like Icon pivoted from AI UGC to human UGC as a differentiator because the demand for human content was growing while everyone was running the other direction.

It is no surprise that the companies are trying to maximize their profit.

Brands that raised millions specifically for AI CMO and AI UGC roles are pivoting back to human creators and rebranding it as authentic content strategy in their press releases.

But I am being offered less for it than I was worth before any of this happened.

He had better not take too much time to think about it.

So, they failed, learned nothing, and came back expecting a discount. I have asked them for some time to think about it.

What do you guys think i should do? I need the money too.

It is almost certain that once AI gets good enough to be seen as real by viewers, they will go right back to using it. So, he should take the work while he can get it, but also start looking for other jobs that will actually be here five years down the road.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

Companies will always put profit over anything else.

Talking to the point of contact is a good first step.

This commenter says they don’t buy from companies that use AI.

Here is someone who says not to accept the job at a lower pay rate.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who gets problematic overtime changes reversed by pointing out how it will harm the company’s bottom line.

This commenter thinks he should get paid more, though.

His job won’t be around in a few years regardless; he needs to bring in money while he can. If he can negotiate a higher pay rate for now, he definitely should.

He knows, however, that the company has no loyalty toward him, so he should look out for himself.